Posted by Jess
20 September 2010
Today is a National Holiday in Japan - it is Respect for the Aged Day. Public Holidays in Japan are called "Red Days" because the date is usually printed in red on local calendars for holidays. Respect for the Aged Day is just what it says - a much more respectful Grandparents Day, but you don't have to be a grandparent to be respected. Some places have celebrations that people can go and see, although it sounds like some of them are limited to people who qualify as aged (which seems to be age 60). I read somewhere that with Japan's aging population the age to be considered an aged person is moving up to 65. Our apartment staff didn't know of any places where we could see any festivities. Most of what I've read about observing Respect for the Aged Day is just spending time with elders, bringing them food, taking them to their favorite places and in general just saying "I Love You". So to all the over 60 people reading this, we love you! Thanks for all you teach us about life every day.
Since there wasn't much going on in the public holiday department, we headed to a big sports area near here to let the kids play and for me to check it out. Jason and the girls went there on Saturday too, but I was en route to Japan so I was curious. The area we were in is called the Meiji Jingu Outer Gardens. This is an area surrounding the Meiji Shrine and includes a lot of the national sports arenas, baseball fields, small driving range, running paths and in general a lot of nice places to be outdoors. The weather has cooled down (it was only about 80 today and there was a breeze) so it was a great day for a longer walk and fun on the playground. This park costs 200 Yen for adults, 50 Yen for youth and free for kids under 2. Why pay for a playground? Well hopefully the pictures tell you why. This place was hopping and it was great! Big jungle gyms, longest slide I've ever seen, trampoline and zip line. Yep, zip line. Here are some pictures and videos of the girls having fun.
Kanpai!
Jess
20 September 2010
Today is a National Holiday in Japan - it is Respect for the Aged Day. Public Holidays in Japan are called "Red Days" because the date is usually printed in red on local calendars for holidays. Respect for the Aged Day is just what it says - a much more respectful Grandparents Day, but you don't have to be a grandparent to be respected. Some places have celebrations that people can go and see, although it sounds like some of them are limited to people who qualify as aged (which seems to be age 60). I read somewhere that with Japan's aging population the age to be considered an aged person is moving up to 65. Our apartment staff didn't know of any places where we could see any festivities. Most of what I've read about observing Respect for the Aged Day is just spending time with elders, bringing them food, taking them to their favorite places and in general just saying "I Love You". So to all the over 60 people reading this, we love you! Thanks for all you teach us about life every day.
Since there wasn't much going on in the public holiday department, we headed to a big sports area near here to let the kids play and for me to check it out. Jason and the girls went there on Saturday too, but I was en route to Japan so I was curious. The area we were in is called the Meiji Jingu Outer Gardens. This is an area surrounding the Meiji Shrine and includes a lot of the national sports arenas, baseball fields, small driving range, running paths and in general a lot of nice places to be outdoors. The weather has cooled down (it was only about 80 today and there was a breeze) so it was a great day for a longer walk and fun on the playground. This park costs 200 Yen for adults, 50 Yen for youth and free for kids under 2. Why pay for a playground? Well hopefully the pictures tell you why. This place was hopping and it was great! Big jungle gyms, longest slide I've ever seen, trampoline and zip line. Yep, zip line. Here are some pictures and videos of the girls having fun.
Kanpai!
Jess
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| on our way into the park |
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| The building in the back is the Meiji Emperor Picture Gallery (a cloudy day today!) |
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| Entrance to the Kids Park |
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| The Jungle Gym |
Ella and Abby on the loooonnnnggg roll-bar slide!
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| sharing ice cream on the way home |
5:26 AM |
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1 comments
Comments (1)
That looks like a pretty awesome park!!! Glad that the 'cooler' weather has arrived!!